It's been awhile...

There are many who have had a lapse in blogging. Many cite twitter, facebook, too many presentations to give, too many conferences to attend.

I would like to use one of those excuses, but really cannot as I have stepped away from all of them as well. Too many upheavals this year, a renewed concentration on being present with family, and a shaken trust in some others. Sorry, but you start to realize who your friends are.

Maybe I did not want to be that busy anymore. I am enjoying long walks, creative pursuits, and learning to just be still. I have my hand in so many things that I am spending time sorting out what is fun, needed, and worthwhile.

I have not blogged the thoughts and rants. Those have been misconstrued in the past. A discussion with myself about education stuff, the environment, and lack of general inquiry and critical thinking in the masses need to remain with me. Peering over a shoulder without engaging in conversation also speaks about hidden agendas. I felt less and less as if I had anything to actually say.

But, the new year brings new change.
We go one-to-one as we start school in January. I am already a wiki centric class that uses laptops to be paperless and for collaboration and different learning opportunities. But now, students who do not have a computer at home have the opportunity to take their laptop with them. Many of those still do not have the Internet at home, but that does not matter. They can take information from sites and download to their desktop, have the application needed to complete assignments, etc.

This can really be an opportunity to up the game a little. I have refined many learning experiences this year that I used last year but have not added some items as I had originally wanted to. As I foray into more formative assessments, I will be blogging about pitfalls, concerns, maybe data (everyone tells us to begin producing data, but what is actually considered valid data?), and student work.

I really feel that without talking about what we are doing, we never get better, lose focus on what we are really intending, and miss opportunities of sharing. I miss that and one of the items I will be focusing on.